BLACK PINE GARDEN
The
small triangular garden in the Allee between the Mother's Garden and the
Ward Garden is dedicated to one style of Japanese gardening. In 1989,
Kunitoshi Akabane of Tassajara Nursery donated his design and plants.
He and the Diablo Bonsai Club created the Black Pine Garden. The Club
continues to maintain it.
The
largest item in the garden is the Japanese Black Pine, which was 40 years
of age when planted in 1989. It is a pine that naturally follows an irregular
growth form with open branching and would grow to 100 feet if permitted.
As a bonsai started many years ago, its diminutive size and shape were
achieved through manipulations like root pruning and bending and weighting
of branches to make it look old prematurely. The Colorado Blue Spruce
(17 years old in 1989) was similarly trained to produce a smaller bonsai
tree that will not fulfill its normal height of 75 feet. Selected shrubs
and grasses in this garden add to its overall theme.
BUTTERFLY
GARDEN (1996)
Ed Matthews proposed that he build a butterfly garden here and share his
love of butterflies with the public Thus, the Butterfly Garden was planted
in 1996 in the space at the north end of the Mural Garden and facing the
Rockery. In a surprisingly short time the garden became lush and colorful,
responding to Ed's personal dedication.
In the first year, the perimeter of the wedge-shaped garden was planted
with a hedge of escallonia. Posts and trellises were installed for training
passion vines and Mexican sunflowers over them. Wildbirds Unlimited has
a butterfly house in this garden and also a birdbath, two birdhouses,
and two bird feeders for other parts of The Gardens at Heather Farms.
In a protective wooden cage Ed grows his annual crop of milkweed as a
nursery for Monarch butterflies, who lay eggs only on the underside of
its leaves. The awakened larvae climb to the top of the cage and hang
as Pupae until they emerge as butterflies. In the first summer, 15 Monarch
and six Swallowtail caterpillars were born in the garden. To attract butterflies.
colorful plants must be grown in quantity. Pesticides are forbidden. When
Ed saw aphids all over the milkweed, he showered them away by hose from
the nearby water tap.
The rose garden complex began with Singer and Hodges land scape designers
drawing up plans for the open sloping area between the Ward Garden and
the City Park boundary to the northeast of it. The earliest main planting
areas were the Gazebo, the Tearose Circle, and the Florubunda Terraces
(1991-1994), followed by the English Border in 1996. The area is punctuated
throughout by upright poles, posts, arbors, and trellises providing a
variety of rose displays. A wood and wire hedge support is the latest
structure to be built, in 1998-1999, as a Boy Scout project. Walkways,
brick paths, stairways, and memorial benches also contribute to the scene.
Each area demonstrates one rose type or another to its best advantage.
A new Rose Trellis is being installed in Spring 1999 as a joint Boy Scout/Heather
Farm project.
Roses generally need good drainage, full sun, moving air, and regular
watering to control its pests and encourage their beauty. Even with those
advantages, roses chosen here are especially picked to resist powdery
mildew and other pests. Roses were planted more closely together than
usually recommended, to create a mass effect. Maintenance requires regular
deadheading of the blossoms, undertaken by trained volunteers to keep
the roses blooming. Modern roses are grafted onto special root stock.
These roots are shallow and heavy water users. Irrigation in this garden
is by underground pipes with standup sprayers. A water bath is used when
needed to eliminate aphids. Roses like to be fertilized monthly during
the blooming season. Here they are fed Bendini 20-10-10, and they are
given systemic insecticides only if needed.
DIABLO
ASCENT GARDEN (1996)
The Humphries Family (Dick, Noel, Virginia & Drew) carefully selected
the location of the garden to honor their parents, Dick & Carol Humphries.
From
this garden they believe they are able to see the ranch on the slope
of
Mr. Diablo where they grew up. Their choice of name for the garden reflects
their dream of another ascent up the dry slope of the mountain and coming
upon a creekbed enriched with varied plant colors and textures, under
the eye of an eagle perched on a rock. This one-thousand pound eagle,
sculpted by Bart Walter, bears the caption,
"I am free."
The
garden continues to be refurbished in December and January of each
year by family members.